Re: "Exhaustive Research"

: : : : : : : : : Since I'm about to leave on a cruise, nautical phrases are on my mind. One that I hope not to hear relates to the Captain 'going down with the ship'. This is a really motivational kind of tradition for ship captains to keep the boat on top of the water rather than let the ship go down. Can any of our experts tell when and where the tradition and the phrase might have originated?

: : : : : : : : In the military, it is a tradition that once kit has been issued, if the serviceman loses it, the cost gets deducted from his pay.

: : : : : : : : It must be better for a captain to go down with the ship, so that he knows exactly where it is and can't be said to have lost it.

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: : : : : : : : PS
: : : : : : : : It is a naval tradition that even after ordering 'abandon ship' the captain does not leave whilst any of the crew remain on board. this has often led to captains 'going down' (i.e. drowning) when their ships sink. one reason is that if one waits too long to abandon, with a ship of any large size, there is a very strong current that sucks the surface back towards the point of sinking and leaving evacuation too late can leave the captain too close to the ship as it sinks and so he gets sucked down with it.

: : : : : : : On often reads that in the great days of exploration the captan suffered if he did not return with wealth or stories of wealth to be had. These stories cause one to wonder if it might not sometimes been better to die at sea than to return with no ship.

: : : : : : No girls, thats not going down on the ship -- it's with the ship.

: : : : : Ha ha Acme, knew we could rely on you. So these girls you're now talking about, are they the same as the ones who drive convertibles?

: : : : a belated "well done, Acme" on the convertibles remark - utterly sexist, but very funny. I have not been able to sit in a traffic queue near a blonde-occupied convertible without remembering. In Surrey, that is a daily occurrence.

: : : : I suppose you could say that the difference between marriage and a convertible is that you always have to ask for a convertible on both knees...

: : : I'm pleased to see that my "convertible theory" has been well received by this splendid and well educated group. This goes a long way towards proving it to be true. Thanks for the verification! Acme. (BTW -- it also applies to brunettes.)

: : I understand better now why French guys are often looking so sad: there is an obvious lack of red convertibles around here...

: Any theory worth its salt is backed up by a lot of exhaustive research. Acme seems to have done a lot of work on this one -- is it exhausting?

Just don't tell my wife to expect a new car - Damn! Too late - she's just had one...